New Year's Day, 2015

Sheila and I just finished a fabulous meal.  She got up this morning and started cooking like an army was coming to visit. When she finished there was a large pot of Hoppin John simmering on the back burner, a golden brown skillet of cornbread, a blackberry cobbler and a sweet potato pie. And, of course, there was sweet tea.

You have to understand Southerners to understand Hoppin John.  It starts with the fact that during the Civil War the (damned) Yankees tried to starve the South into submission by stealing every bit of food and livestock they could eat or transport and then burning the rest, leaving millions of Southerners with literally nothing to eat ... at least so they thought.  But, not knowing that Southerners ate blackeyed peas instead of feeding them to livestock like northerners, they left them because they had stolen all of the livestock. That winter, the South survived on blackeyed peas and we Southern types now eat them as a remembrance of our culture and to never forget the fact that for decades we were an occupied country.


Sheila's Hoppin John is made with a little big of hog jowl for "seasonin" but with mostly smoked turkey leg instead of fat back.  Her recipe includes collard greens, jalapenos, carrots and hot sauce all simmered together and served over rice.  It is actually a quite sophisticated dish with multiple layers of flavor and texture.  Everybody knows and loves blackberry cobbler but if you're not Southern you might not know sweet potato pie. Imagine the richest, creamiest, sweetest pumpkin pie you ever tasted.  That's it.  It was an amazing meal.

Last night, neither of us stayed awake to watch the ball fall in Times Square. I had no desire to see the show or the anti-police riot that was predicted. By 10:00, I was in bed watching a rerun of Evening Shade. By 11:00 I was sound asleep.  I haven't been sleeping well because of my strained back but last night the pain relented and I finally rested.  This morning, I felt like a new person ready to meet a new year.